Mulaika Hijjas

Dr Mulaika Hijjas is a Reader in South East Asian Studies at the School of Languages, Cultures and Linguistics at SOAS University of London. She holds a BA from Harvard, MPhil from Oxford, and PhD from London University. Her research focuses on Malay manuscript traditions, gender dynamics in Islamic contexts, and modern literatures of Indonesia/Malaysia/Singapore. She leads the Leverhulme-funded 'Mapping Sumatra’s manuscript cultures' project examining Islamic intellectual traditions. Her work bridges textual analysis with material culture studies, particularly examining colonial archives and gendered authorship. She supervises PhD students researching topics like Acehnese heritage and Thai literary adaptations. Recent articles include reevaluations of Malay royal regalia and colonial manuscript collections, alongside studies of Sufi hagiographies and women’s literary agency.

• Academic roles: Departmental Research Convenor & Steering Committee Member
• Key research themes: Didactic literature for women, pre-colonial gender politics, and material cultural heritage
• Leverhulme Project: Interdisciplinary investigation of Sumatra's manuscript networks

Her publications span over 25 years, with notable works including Victorious Wives (2010) and co-authored works on Vladimir Braginsky’s legacy (2025). Advising focuses on decolonizing approaches to Southeast Asian cultural history.